Method of lasting shoes



.April 10, 1945. A. RUSSELL 2,373,254

. METHODS OF LASTING SHOES I Filed 001;. 16, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 10, 1945. A. L. RUSSELL METHODS OF LASTING SHOES Filed Oct. 16, 1942 2 Sheets-Shet 2 I Patented Apr. 10, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE METHOD OF LASTING SHOES Arthur L. Russell, Boston, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J.. a corporation of New Jersey Application October 16, 1942, Serial No. 462,256

. Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of welt shoes, and more particularly to improvements in method for lasting the toe ends of such shoes.

' In accordance with the usual shoemaking practhe wipers are retracted somewhat, and the operator applies a binding wire for holding the upper materials in lasted position, until'they become permanently held in place by the inseam stitches which secure the welt to the insole. This opera.- tion of applying the binding wire to the toe end of welt shoes takes up a considerable amount of time, during which the lasting machine is necessarily idle, and not available for use to last another shoe. Also, the use of such a binding involves a further expenditure of time and labor in the removal thereof before the shoe is presented to the inseam,machine, or, if the binding wire, together with its anchoring tacks, is left on the shoe during the inseaming operation, as is sometimes done, the danger of needle breakage is greatly increased.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a novel method of lasting the toe ends of welt shoes by means of which the use of a binding Wireis avoided and the bed laster immediately made available for the lasting of another shoe at the completion of each bed-lasting operation. To this end, and in accordance with my novel method, the shoe is removed from the influence of the lasting instrumentalities, as for example, the wipers of a bed-lasting machine, after the upper materials at the toe end have been brought into lasted position, upon the feather and against the rib of the insole, but while still in unfastened condition, and the upper materials immediately subjected to clamping pressure for holding them in lasted position until they become wholly set. Conveniently, this clamping pressure is applied by means of the herein illustrated auxiliary pressing apparatus which comprises an abutment having surfaces, shaped somewhat like wipers, for engaging the overlasted upper at the tOe end of th shoe, where it lies on the feather and against the rib of the insole, to apply clamping pressure thereto and a support for the top of the shoe, so arranged with respect to the abutment as to form a fulcrum about which the shoe and its last may be swung, by its own weight, or some equivalent force, to press the toe end of the shoe bottom against the abutment surfaces. To facilitate use, this auxiliary pressing apparatus may be located adjacent to the bed laster, so that each lasted shoe can readily be transferred thereto from the bed lasting machine, and preferably this apparatus is provided with a plurality of such abutments and shoe supports for accommodating several shoes at the same time, thus making it possible to maintain each shoe under clamping pressure for a longer period, In order to augment the effect of the weight of the shoe and its last to press the toe end of the shoe bottom against the pressure abutment, resilient means may be provided in the apparatus, these means being arranged to exert a downwardly and forwardly directed force on the heel end of a, shoe therein.

The above and other'objects and features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of my novel method and of an auxiliary pressing apparatus used in connection therewith, when con sidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, and will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a view in sid elevation, with some parts in section, of an auxiliary pressing apparatus embodying features of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the toe end of a welt shoe; and

Fig. 4 is a View in side elevation of an auxiliary then subjected to the action of heat and vaporto make them readily workable in the bed lasting machine. This heat and vapor treatment also softens the toe box, so that it can be shaped readily about the toe end of the last and easily worked in over the feather of th insole and against the insole rib with the upper materials.

If the box material has adhesive qualities these will be enhanced by this treatment so that the upper and lining will stick thereto and also to set in place.

ditions and with usual upper materials, that, after been shaped about the toe end of the last by means of the toe wipers oi the bed lasting machine, and have also been worked'in over the shoe.

bottom so as to lie flatly upon the feather F of the insole I and to fit snugly into the angle A between the feather and rib R. At this stage. in the lasting operation, the usual practice would be to retract the toe wipers a short distance away from the rib and to apply the binding wire for holding the upper materials in lasted position. However, in accordance with my novel method, instead of doing this, the wipers are fully withdrawn and the shoe is immediately transferred from the bed laster to an auxiliary pressing apparatus in which the upper materials are subjected to clamping pressure for holdin the up.- per materials in the position shown in 3, until they have cooled and dried so as to become fully I have found, under ordinary con,

the clamping pressure has been maintained for a period of about three minutes, the upper materials havev cooled and dried suiiicientlyso that there is no. longer any tendency for them to pull away from the insole rib, or to, loosen. up. about the toe. end of the last. i

While this clamping. pressure may-be. appliedin any convenient way, and could in fact be. obtained by leaving the shoe in thebed laster if the length of timenecessary for setting the upper materials was. not prohibitive, it may be applied most conveniently by means. of apparatus of the type. shown in Figs. 1, Zand, 4 or the. drawings. In these views, the reference. character In desig nates generally an abutment, against. which the toe. end of the shoe is pressed. This abutmentv comprises a block I 2 on which there are mounted a pair of articulated members I4 and i6, that are secured to each other and to. the block by means of a stud I8. These articulated members are channel-like in cross section, each having upper and lower flanges 20 and 22 connected by a web 24', the upper flangesv being of considerably greater width than are. the lower flanges. Near the stud |8' the upper flange of one. memher is brought down below the corresponding flange of the other member, and is threadedat' 26 to receive the stud which passes up through a bore 28 in the other flange and also through a bore 30 in one end of the block l-2. Adjacent to the opposite end of the block there are two arcuate slots 32, through which studs 34, threads ed into the upper flanges 20 of the articulated members, extend. At their forward ends each of these members is providedwith an ear 3B and between these ears is positioned a compression spring 38, held in place by means of projections Mi. thereon. This spring tends at all times-to urge the articulated members to a closed position.

54. A leaf spring 55, secured to the trunnion block, bears on the upper surface of each abutment to keep it in the position shown, while permitting a slight degree of swinging movement of the abutment for leveling on the bottom of a shoe.

Supported by the cross members 48, below the abutment, are three rods 56, 58 and 60. On the first-mentioned of these rods, there are rotatably mounted a plurality of rolls 62, which are spaced lengthwise along the rod, one beneath each abutment. This rod is oifset rearwardly from the effective center of pressure of the downwardly facing bottom surface of the lower flanges 22 of the articulated members associated with each abutment. As can be seen in Fig. 1, these rolls engage the topside of the toe end of a shoe just back of the tip line, when the shoe is presented to the apparatus with its overlasted upper materials at. the toe endheld against the flanges 22. In this position the major part of the shoe and its last overhang in back of the supporting roll 62, so that the weight of the shoe and its last is effective to swing the shoe about the roll, as a fulerum, to. press the toeend of the bottom. of the shoe against the abutment with considerable force. This causes the upper to. be pressed very firmly down onto. the feather F of the insole. Also, whenv theshoe was placed in they apparatus, the I articulated members were spread apart: against the action of the spring 38, the. closing action of which now forces the inside edgesof the flanges, 2.2, which. form shoulders, firmly against.

- that portion. ofthe upper which is in, the. angle For mounting the abutment on a supporting 1 plurality of these abutmentslis a frame having uprights 44. and crossv members 46 and 48. The

abutments are mounted on trunnion blocks 50, through which the pins 43; pass, thatare. secured to a longitudinal member 52 by means of nuts A between the feather andlip. While-.so-held, the upper materials. cannot loosen, or creep backirom. their lasted position.

Thev inside. edges. of. the flange 2.2 of the. articulated members are shaped. somewhat. like. wipers, so as, to conform. to the; average contour of the ribs of the insoles of shoes, having conventional toe shapes, and, by the closing action of the springs 38, these members are. able to accommodate a full run of sizes. However,v where theshape or the toe of the shoes being lasted varies.

too much from the conventional, a set of articulated members having a different inside edge contour may be readily substituted.

Ordinarily, the effect of the weight of the shoe and its. last alone is suflicient to produce the necessary pressure, for thus holding the upper materials in place while they set. However, the clamping pressure may, if desired, be increased by augmenting the weight effect. A convenient means for doing this, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, comprises a strap 64 connected to the rod 58 by means of two tension springs 66' and 68. In use, this strap is brought up over and into engagement with the heel end of the shoe, and the direction of poll of the springs 66' and 68 is such as to have a downward component for augmenting the weight effect of the shoe and its last, and also a forwardly acting component which tends to force the shoe into articulated members and thus increases the action of the springs38 to hold the flanges 22 against the upper in the angle between feather andrib. The rod 60 serves as a catch bar toprevent a shoe from dropping to the floor, should it become accidentally dislodged from the abutment and supporting roll.

The frame shown in Figs. l and 2 is similar to a. conventional shoe rack, and, in fact, it is within. the purview of this invention to install the abutments. ill and supporting rolls 62 on such a rack. While only two abutments are shown in Fig. 2, it will be understood that the length of the frame structure is such asto accommodate many more, and that several vertical sets of abutments and supporting rolls may beprovided. This frame may have casters or other suitable wheels to facilitate its being moved about from place to place, as, for example, from the bed laster to the inseaming machine, or it may be fixed to the floor adjacent to the bed laster. In any event, there will be on it enough abutments and supporting rolls, so that each shoe can be certainly subjected to a clamping pressure at its toe end for a long enough period to assure that the upper materials will become whollyset in lasted position.

As explained above, this setting of the upper materials in place will, under ordinary conditions, be accomplished in about three minutes. The usual time taken by a skilled operator in bed lasting a shoe is approximately one minute. Hence, a minimum of four abutments and associated supporting rolls would be sufficient. Of course, where the whole rack is filled, a much longer period of auxiilary pressing will be obtained and, where the rack is to be permanently located adjacent the laster, it is thought that a minimum number of six or eight abutments and associated supporting rolls should be provided.

In Fig. 4, an alternative type of supporting structure is shown, and one which is especially well adapted to be located adjacent to the bed laster. In this device, the abutments ID, of which there may be preferably eight, are mounted on radial arms HI extending outwardly from a hub '12. This hub is mounted for rotation on the up per end of a standard M of convenient height and which, below the arm 10, is provided with pairs of radial arms 16. The rolls 62 are carried between the arms 16 and the springs 66 and 88 are secured to these arms in the manner shown. At their outer ends, the arms 16 are connected by means of rods 18, which serve the same purpose as the rods 60 in the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2. With this arrangement, shoes from the bed laster are placed against the abutment, the

operator turning the hub to bring the abutments successively into loading position, until all eight of the abutments have been filled. Now, as a shoe is taken from the bed laster, the shoe, which has been longest under pressure in this auxiliary apparatus, is removed and returned to the shoe rack, and the just lasted shoe is put in its place. In this way, each shoe is held under auxiliary clamping pressure for atleast eight minutes, a period sufficient to assure the setting in place of even the heaviest upper materials.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of lasting the toe ends of welt shoes which comprises the steps of working the upper materials at the toe end of the shoe into lasted position by means of a machine having lasting instrumentalities, removing the shoe from the influence of said lasting instrumentalities and from th machine with said upper materials in unfastened condition, immediately subjecting the lasted upper materials to clamping pressure for holding said materials in lasted position, and continuing said clamping pressure until the upper materials have set.

2. That improvement in methods of lasting the toe ends of welt shoes which comprises the steps of working the upper materials at the toe end of the shoe into lasted position by means of the wipers of a bed lasting machine removing the shoe from the influence of said'wipers'and from the machine with said upper materials in unfastened condition, immediately subjecting the last- 5 ed upper materials to clamping pressure for hold.- ing said materials'in lasted position, and continuing said clamping pressure until the'upper materials have set.

v 3. That improvement in'metho ds of lasting the toe ends of welt shoes which comprises the steps of working the upper materials at thetce end of the shoe into lasted position upon the feather and against the rib of the insole by means of a machine having lasting instrumentalities, removing the shoe fromthe influ'ence'of the lasting instrumentalities and from the machine with the upper materials in unfastened condition,'immediately subjecting the lasted upper materials to clamping pressure for holding said materials in lasted position, and continuing the clamping pressure until the-materials have set.

4. That improvement in methods of lasting the toe ends of welt shoes which comprises the steps of working the upper materials at the toe end of the shoe into lasted position upon the feather and against therib of the insole by means of the wipers of a bed-lasting machine, removing the shoe from the influence of said wipers and from the machine with the upper in unfastened condition, immediately subjecting the lasted upper materials to clamping pressure for holding said materials in lasted position, and continuing the clamping pressure until the materials have set.

5. That improvement in methods of lasting the toe ends of welt shoes which comprises the steps of working the upper materials at the toe end of the shoe, which have been subjected to heat and vapor treatment, into lasted position by means of a machin having lasting instrumentalities, removing the shoe from the influence of the lasting instrumentalities and from the machine with said upper materials in uni'astened condition, immediately subjecting the lasted upper materials to clamping pressure for holding said materials in lasted position, and continuing said clamping pressure until the materialshave set.

'6. That improvement in methods of lasting the toe ends of welt shoe which comprises the steps of working the upper materials at the toe end of the shoe, which have been subjected to heat and vapor treatment, into lasted position by means of the wipers of a bed-lasting machine, removing the shoe from the influence of said wipers and from th machine with the upper materials in unfastened condition, immediately subjecting the lasted upper materials to clamping pressure for holding said materials in lasted position, and continuing said clamping pressure until the materials have set.

7. That improvement in methods of lasting the toe ends of welt shoes which comprises the steps of working the upper materials at the toe end of the shoe, which have been subjected to heat and vapor treatment, into lasted position upon the feather and against the rib of the insole by means of a machine having lasting instrumentalities,

removing the shoe from the influence of the last-- ing instrumentalities and from the machine with the upper materials in unfastened condition, im-

mediately subjecting the lasted upper materials to clamping pressure for holding said materials in lasted position, and continuing the clamping pressure until the materials have set.

8. That improvement in methods of lasting the toe endso! welt: hoes which comprises the steps otiworking the upper materials'at the toe end of theshoe, which have been subjected to. heat and vapor treatment,' into lasted position-upon the feather and against the rib of the insoleby means of the wipers at a bed-lasting" machine, removing the shoe from theyinfiuence ofsaid wipers and from the machine with the upper materials in unfastened condition, immediately subjectingthe lasted materials to clamping presthe=machine with the upper materials in uniastened condition, immediately subjecting the lasted upper materials to clamping pressure for holding said materials in lasted. position, and continuing the clamping pressure until said materials have set w l i l 10. That improvement in methods of lasting the toe ends of welt shoes which comprises the steps ofworking the upper materials at the toe end of the shoe, including an adhesive toe stifiener and which have been subjected to heat and; vapor treatment, into lasted position upon the feather and against the rib of the insole by means of the wipers of a bed-lasting machine, removing the shoe fromthe influence of said wipers and. from the machine with the upper materials in unfastenedcondition, immediately subjecting the lasted upper materials to clamping pressure for holding said materials in lasted position, and continuing the clamping pressure until said materials have set. i i

ARTHUR L. RUSSELL 

